


family name

by chidorinnn



Category: Naruto
Genre: Clan Politics, Family Reunions, team taka - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-20
Updated: 2019-02-20
Packaged: 2019-10-31 23:02:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17858690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chidorinnn/pseuds/chidorinnn
Summary: "It's just..." says Karin, "... before Orochimaru-sama took me in, I had a name. And he made me give it up.""What was your name before all of this? Not Karin?""No, still Karin, but... Karin Uzumaki. He made me drop the 'Uzumaki' part."





	family name

**Author's Note:**

> Goodness, it's been so long since I last wrote Naruto fic that I might be eviscerating canon and I don't even know it *_*
> 
> Pretend this takes place after Sasuke learns the truth behind the Uchiha massacre, but before Team Taka goes after Killer B.

"Oh my god, you're actually drooling over Akatsuki enemy number one."

"I'm not drooling, Suigetsu,  _god_."

Sasuke frowns, and wonders if it's worth it to get up and let them know that he's awake — because neither Suigetsu nor Karin are particularly subtle, and they both know he can and will sleep through anything if that's what he wants — but it doesn't mean they have to be so  _loud_.

"Really," says Suigetsu, "because you've been staring at that guy's face an  _awful_ long time."

—and it's not like Sasuke's known his new team for that long, but he'd like to think he's getting better at picking up on at least a  _few_ tells: that Suigetsu, when his voice is oddly soft like this, is trying to be helpful and not doing a very good job of it — that Karin, when she doesn't immediately go on the offensive, is dealing with something of her own that she thinks is a weakness that needs to be snuffed out, lest she be punished for it. Years of Orochimaru's attention will do that to you.

"It's... dumb," says Karin, slowly.

"Oh yeah?" Suigetsu retorts. "Try me."

There's a long pause. Sasuke pulls the blanket closer, does his best to regulate his breathing and fall back asleep because it looks like Karin will just ignore him—

"It's just..." says Karin, "... before Orochimaru-sama took me in, I had a name. And he made me give it up."

"Probably because he didn't want anyone tracking you down," says Suigetsu.

"Yeah, I figured as much. But..." She sighs. "I don't know."

"Well..." says Suigetsu, "what was your name before all of this? Not Karin?"

She lets out a huff that might be a laugh, but it's too quiet and too broken to be entirely genuine. "No, still Karin, but..." She takes a deep breath. "Karin Uzumaki. Orochimaru-sama made me drop the 'Uzumaki' part."

That's... news. Sasuke hadn't done much research when he'd first formed the team, beyond what their abilities entailed. Dropping surnames, eliminating family history in a fit of paranoia, is so in-character for Orochimaru that he's hardly surprised — but to think that Karin had a surname identical to another teammate's leaves him feeling oddly ill.

"What, so you think there might be a big Uzumaki clan somewhere?" Suigetsu asks.

"I don't know," Karin answers. "Maybe... or it could just be a really common name. Me and my mom were the only two Uzumakis in Kusa, but she said our family used to be a lot bigger and we just sort of split up."

"Hm..." says Suigetsu. "Could be like the Hozukis, maybe."

"Meaning...?"

"Well..." Suigetsu lets out a humorless laugh. "You ever heard of Amegakure?"

"That's in Water Country, right?"

"Who the hell knows?" says Suigetsu. "It's disputed territory, and it's been disputed forever. A few decades ago, it was part of Water Country, and then Wind Country annexed it, and then Fire Country put one of  _their_ people in charge after winning some battle there... anyway, this place is a hot mess and there's always something going on because you're not really  _invading_ other nations if you're just duking it out in Ame — which sucks for the people that actually live there and have to deal with this shit on a regular basis."

"So what does this have to do with your family?" asks Karin.

"A few decades ago, a bunch of people from Ame tried to move to Kiri, but I guess the Mizukage was more awful than the others, or maybe Ame wasn't part of Water Country then, or maybe Kiri was trying to suck up to Iwa or Konoha... I don't know. Either way, these people were turned away at the border and told to try their luck elsewhere or die trying."

"Ugh."

"I know, right? Anyway, Great Granny Suiren decided that enough was enough and declared that anyone who wanted to move to Kiri need only list their family name as 'Hozuki.' So then suddenly, there was a bunch of people all named Hozuki. It was a 'don't ask, don't tell' kind of thing, you know? So everyone treated each other like family, and it didn't matter whether you were blood Hozuki or adopted Hozuki."

"So which one are you?"

"No idea. I think it mattered to my grandparents? But not so much a few generations down the line."

"So you're saying that the Uzumakis  _might_ be like that," says Karin. "That doesn't sound right... but I don't know enough about my family to say for sure." She groans, and then there's the ruffling of papers and a soft  _thump_. "Okay, be honest: does this guy look anything like me?"

"Uh..." There's a long pause, and then: "Not... really?"

Karin sighs again. "Figures."

"But just because you might be long lost siblings doesn't mean—"

"Cousins," says Sasuke.

It's almost comical, the way they both cry out in unison as Sasuke sits up. He doesn't mean to intimidate them, but thinking about Konoha is unpleasant at the best of times and so infuriating these days that it makes him want to set something on fire — and yet, the prospect of his teammate finding family again, after years of having none at all, is... not something he can ignore.

"In clans," says Sasuke, "that can mean anything from your parents' siblings' children to... your father's sister's husband's sister's son. That distinction is important, because it determines eligibility for marriage. Blood purity is important."

Suigetsu looks faintly nauseated, but Karin's eyes go wide. "So there really was a whole Uzumaki  _clan_?"

"No," Sasuke replies — too bluntly, if the way Karin winces is anything to go by. "Naruto Uzumaki was the only person I knew with that name, and he had no family to speak of."

He lays back down and turns away from them, then. He doesn't fall asleep for a long while, which is why he hears Suigetsu whisper, not as quietly as he likely thinks, "If your family's all split up, then he might still be related to you, you know."

"It's fine," says Karin, and for a moment, Sasuke wants to shake her by the shoulders because  _this is her family_  and this should mean more to her than following him to the end of the world. It's a sort of blind following that just reeks of Orochimaru's teachings, of what makes shinobi from Konoha so willing to discard what is right in favor of blind loyalty to the village where they live.

But Karin backs down anyway — of course she does. "If he really doesn't have any family, then it's not going to make a difference whether  _I'm_ related to him or not. He doesn't know me."

"You could still try."

"Sasuke's not going to be happy about it."

"Yeah, but this isn't really about him, is it?"

"Okay,  _fine_ ," Karin huffs. " _If_ Sasuke ever gets over wanting to burn Konoha to the ground, and  _if_ 'Uzumaki' isn't just a ridiculously common name, and _if_ I ever get to have a one-on-one conversation with this guy... then I'll try. But only then."

What she's saying should make him angry — likely, if it were anyone else outside his team saying it, he _would_   be angry — but somehow, the mere thought of taking this away from Karin feels wrong.

So he lets her have this — and later, in the Land of Iron, when his rage has quieted down to near nonexistence, when Sakura hugs him before whacking him lightly upside the head and telling him to never pull something like this again, when Kakashi's disapproving frown morphs into a smile as he ruffles Sasuke's hair — he can't help but smile when Karin quietly pulls Naruto aside and, a few seconds later, Naruto throws his arms around her in a crushing hug.


End file.
